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Sarah Blazucki is the NLGJA Vice President of Print and Digital. She is the former editor of Philadelphia Gay News. Under her direction, the staff won more than 35 awards for news writing, arts and entertainment, columns, photos and advertising.

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Over the next week, the Re:Act bloggers who attended NLGJA’s 2009 convention will be posting a number of blogs about the event to share the wisdom to those who missed it. To get rolling, here are some links to coverage of the convention by participants in the student project.

“We here just tend to not let things bother us; we’re a more passive nation,” About magazine editor Duane Booth said. “We love our country, we love our hockey as well and that’s pretty much the only thing we get extremely fired up about.”

Booth emphasized that the attitude of “be and let it be” is prevalent in Canadian society – Canadians just choose not to get caught up in the affairs of others and their choices.

Global National Anchor Kevin Newman thinks the lack of a national narrative is a major reason why Canadians are more passive than their neighbors to the south.

“There is a narrative to America; there is not a similar narrative to Canada,” Newman said. “We argue about our narrative. Very few Americans argue about their fundamental story.”

The LGBT press has gained unprecedented access to White House news briefings and Obama administration officials over the past eight months, but is sometimes accused of being apologists for the president.

A panel of journalists working for gay media discussed their reporting styles, sources and reputations Thursday at a session on political reporting at the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association convention in Montreal.

Though she has only been attending White House briefings since April, Kerry Eleveld, Washington correspondent for The Advocate magazine, said her questions at times can drive the day’s news.

“It’s my job to ask the LGBT question in the briefing room,” Eleveld said. “I don’t think of myself as an activist, but there’s no escaping the fact that asking them questions they don’t want to hear is a form of activism.”